As Tom looked up at Blaise's concerned face and Theo's inquisitive one, he realised that sometimes, the best way to lie is to mix in a bit of the truth. Allowing Harry's nervousness to show through in a quick bite of his bottom lip, Tom struggled to his feet, sitting on the edge of the bed, with his friends beside him. Judging by the look in Blaise's eyes, Jay's half-formed thought of passing it off as a personality quirk was ill-advised.

"Why were you sleeping under the bed?" Blaise questioned. His voice held a hard note that Tom inwardly approved of, although he couldn't let it show. He let his feet swing against the bed, thumping against the polished wood of the frame for a moment, thinking.

"I'm used to it," he finally answered, keeping it simple. "The Dursleys-the people I live with-they aren't very nice to people with magic. Until I got my letter, I didn't even know I hadmagic." (Which was more or less the truth, at least for Harry.)

"So they made you sleep on the floor?" Theo piped up, his eyes round and owl-like. Tom shrugged, swinging his feet harder.

"Not...exactly," he prevaricated. "It just feels safer sometimes. They could get awfully loud. I mean, they never really hurt me or anything. But it isn't very pleasant."

Blaise looked like he didn't believe a word out of "Harry's" mouth. Theo looked more trusting, yet still worried his lip between his teeth in confused thought. Damn it. Tom didn't want to let any more of the cat escape out of the bag. Run your mouth off too much, after all, and you'd end up blurting out everything.

"I think you're not telling the whole truth," Blaise finally said. "And I don't like that. But..." the boy hesitated. "I hope you know you can tell me or Theo anything."

"Of course," Tom nodded, trying to look as much like Harry as he could. He'd never been more acutely aware of the differences between them. Even sleep-rumpled and just out of bed, he was more alert, more on edge than their perpetually befuddled host.

Blaise stared at him for a long moment, his dark eyes making the system as a whole feel exposed and uncomfortable, before he nodded and gracefully got up. Theo bounced up next to him, nearly smacking his head on a bed post.

"In that case, can we get ready and go to breakfast? I'm starved," Theo grinned. With a slight smile of relief, Tom faded back in and let Jay take over, who was soon dressed and out of there with a ready-made smirk and a near-strut in his steps. They'd put off the inevitable, at least for a bit. But now Tom knew that Blaise, for certain, was suspicious. And if they couldn't fob off an eleven-year-old, no matter how cunning, how could they hope to hide this from the entirety of the wizarding world for any length of time?

It was a sobering thought, and a wholly unpleasant one. They were scarcely two months into the school term, and already, the secrecy was falling apart before their eyes. At least Harry still hadn't the faintest what was going on in his own head, but it wasn't really a relief when you realised that all Blaise had to do was open his mouth when Harry was out, and their host would be thrown into more turmoil than he knew how to deal with. And wouldn't that be a fun job to clean up.

Conflicted as he was, Tom ended up letting Jay front for the entirety of classes, only regretting it a few times when Jay decided it would be fun to bewitch Professor Binns' desk to keep creeping, ever so slowly, around the perimeter of the classroom, and when he thought it a brilliant plan to turn Seamus Finnegan's hair blue. For his twin, he explained oh so innocently when Tom discovered what was going on and glared at him. It had been amusing to watch the perplexity grow on Binns' mostly transparent face, and Seamus hadn't even noticed for nearly twenty minutes (despite surreptitious, muffled giggling), so Tom subsided and merely admonished Jay to remember to be discreet.

Discretness was not a trait they possessed that evening, however, when they entered the Great Hall and realised it was already Halloween. Somehow, they'd been so lost in their own thoughts they'd forgotten.

The decorations were outstanding, although even Jay could have done without a live bat accidentally splashing down into his pumpkin juice. Even Harry, switching out somewhere in the middle for a good helping of sweet potato mash and a lively discussion on the levitation charm with Theo, found himself amused and delighted by the Halloween spirit that had infected the whole of the Great Hall. The only dark spot on the night was the recollection that this was when Harry became an orphan. Never before had Harry had a proper time to mourn, and surrounded by witches and wizards, juvenile as they may be, it all crowded back.

When it became too much, Tom came back out. He knew that he himself had been forced into Harry's body on this night, separated from his other self, but it wasn't a subject that troubled him very badly. The fact that Hermione was missing from the Ravenclaw table did and judicious questioning uncovered the fact that Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas had been mercilessly teasing her (apparently taking up where Weasley left off) and she'd taken refuge in the girls' loo. Raven wanted to leap up from the table right then and there and go in search of her, but Tom gently persuaded her into calming and understanding that was a bad idea.

We'll find her after the Feast, all right? Tom reassured Raven, who finally looked at him with big eyes and nodded, her countenance troubled. We'll even bring her a dessert or two, wrapped up in a napkin, he added, and watched Raven's face light up. That was better.

And that was their plan until Professor Quirrell stumbled through the main doors, babbled something about a troll, and promptly fainted onto the floor.

The entire room was in an uproar, panic spreading over the students like a wildfire, before Dumbledore got to his feet and ordered calm, detailing what was to be done.

Sure, send the Slytherins and the 'Puffs to their dorms when their dorms are in the bloody dungeons with the troll! Jay added scathingly. Tom couldn't help but agree with this assessment. It would have been much safer to keep the children in the Great Hall, ward the doors, and set off with a few professors to find the troll, leaving the rest behind to guard the student body.

Perhaps the rest of Slytherin House also sensed this, because none of them seemed very willing to move, only grudgingly budging up when the prefects started chivvying them along. Tom got up obediently with the rest, then froze when Raven's panicked thought spread through the system.

Hermione didn't know about the troll.

Making a lightning-quick decision, Jay forced himself out and began edging his way toward the opposite door, hoping that Blue or Raven could help him find the girl's lavatory. A hand clamped down on his wrist, and Leigh nearly ended up catapulted out. Jay glanced up and found Blaise, a strange dogged look in his eyes.

"Where are you going?" Blaise demanded. Jay shook his head. There was no time for this. His twin and Raven were both clamouring at him, and the ensuing noise made him want to clap his hands over his ears.

"Granger," he finally said, impatient. "She doesn't know about the bloody troll, and Flitwick's sodded off with the rest of the professors, so I've no one to tell."

"Good point," Blaise acknowledged. "Oi! Theo!"

Theodore Nott clambered over a blockage of chairs.

"Yeah?" he asked breathlessly.

"Come on," Blaise decreed. "We're going to find Granger. Where is she, d'you know?" He directed this last bit at Jay, who bristled at the near-effortless way the taller boy had taken command.

"The loo," he answered shortly. Theo's eyes widened, but the trio ended up sliding out of another door, ignoring the ruckus that was swiftly spreading throughout the rest of the building.

The corridor the girl's loo was located in was a lot quieter, and Jay took a moment to soak in the silence as they walked. His wand was out, gripped tightly in his fist. He doubted they would find the troll. It was supposed to be in the dungeons, at least a floor away. But it didn't feel right, even to him, to leave Granger weeping and moaning in a lavatory, entirely unaware of the potential danger.

This is so stupid, so bad, we're gonna get caught, we're gonna be in trouble, we're gonna get caught! Freak constantly whimpered in his head, a breathless litany of terror that made him feel slightly weak-kneed. He ignored it, though. They weren't going to get caught, and they certainly weren't going to end up in trouble. Not if he had any say about it.

"Do you...smell something?" Theo asked, crinkling his nose. Jay smelled it at the same time, a disgusting mixture of unwashed socks and molding food.

Troll! Tom nearly yelled in alarm, coming out and pulling both companions to his side, out of way in a nearby alcove. Not a moment too soon, for the troll came slowly into view around the bend, only twenty or so feet away.

It was a monstrous creature, the system thought, peeking round the wall at it. Standing over seven feet tall, looking like a mass of boulders come to life. Beady eyes scanned the hallway for signs of life, but it didn't appear too bright, at least.

The only problem-as all three children realised simultaneously-was that it was standing inches away from the girl's bathroom.